An Eye for an Eye
by Chaos-harbinger
Summary: While on the hunt, Spike walks right into a trap and the middle of a vendetta. Now, he's handcuffed to some strange girl in a world where nothing is what it seems, and both are on the run for their life.
1. let the games begin

Ta-da! Its my first ever Cowboy Bebop fic. ::silence:: aww c'mon now I'm not that bad. ::more silence:: grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr hey Ed am I _that_ bad?

::Ed:: chaos bad chaos bad, it's the worst we ever had!

::looks at Ed evilly:: your gonna regret that missy

::Ed::missy kissy wissy poo!

::smacks forehead:: I have my work cut out for me. Oh and I don't own Cowboy Bebop!

An Eye For an Eye

Chapter One

"How y'all doin'? Welcome do Bigshot for the Bounty hunters," the vid screen crackles on. "Today we have a special bounty for all you bounty hunters out there. This bounty recently escaped from Ling-Ling prison and is worth a whopping 300 million woolongs!

"Wow, that's a lot of money for just one guy."

"Well this guy's name is Nikolai Asimov, former crime boss of the Red Dragon Syndicate. He was incarcerated for-"

"Murder, money embezzlement, and under age prostitution among other things," Spike said, seeming a little annoyed. Getting up off the couch, Spike turned off the vid screen. Fey threw the remote at him which he caught and yelled, "HEY! I was watching that!" Tossing her back the remote, he shot her a look that said, "don't even think about it."and skulked away. '_What's _his_ problem?'_ she thought as she went to get Ed to help her track down the big bounty. Her, Ed and Jet sat around Ed's computer trying to find a lead when Spike walked back in.

"This guy's mine. Trust me you'll never find him if you don't know him. He watches his ass."

"Hey Spike, at least give us a hint," Jet said trying to reason with him.

"No, this is something I have to deal with alone. I owe that bastard an eye." An eye that only sees the past.

Releasing the air lock, Swordfish took of smoothly and flew through space towards Mars. Cutting through the silence of space, Spike raced toward his destination. His intercom crackled on and Jet's angry voice was barely audible.

"SPIKE!! GET..........I MEAN........YOU'LL NEVER BE ALOUD........SPIKE!!!" He reached over and turned off the intercom. Sighing he once again focused on his objective; finding Nikolai and paying him back.

Landing on the outskirts of the considerably shady side of town, Spike chose his path. Lots of alleys, dingy streets and condemned buildings with garbage strewn everywhere. It reeked of danger and death, the stench of cheap booze and drugs hung in the air. Even though it was still daylight, darkness loomed over this part of the city. Heading over towards a particular rundown building, Spike hunched his shoulders to keep the cold off the back of his neck. A pink neon sign read, "The Bulldog" with the letters e, u, and d out of commission. The rest of the letters blinked like a candle about to go out. Fogged over and boarded up windows greeted Spike as he reached for the handle on a heavy rusted steel door.

Dim lighting created long overcast shadows across the floor of the bar. A few scattered tables with candles were on the far side of the room. To his immediate right was the bar and on the far end of the bar sat a man. He was stocky and hunched over a half finished mug, a long, jagged scar trailed from the left side of his forehead, in-between his eyes and swept across his right cheek. Shifting his gaze warily toward the door, his eyes grew wide in horror for a fleeting second, as if he had seen a ghost. Though he did not act like he fully acknowledged Spike's presence, he watched him out of the corner of his eye.

Spike took a seat on the other end of the bar, using its mirror behind the shelves to his advantage. "_That's him. I remember when I gave him that scar, after he took out my eye.' _Ordering a drink, he began to reminisce about his days in the syndicate.

"SPIKE!! DO YOU HEAR ME?! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!!! I MEAN IT SPIKE! YOU'LL NEVER BE ALLOWED BACK ON THE BEBOP! SPIKE!!!!!" (click) "huh? What happened ?" Jet asked scratching his sparse head.

"He turned it off you idiot," Faye answered in an I-told-you-so tone, sauntering off toward her room.

"OH who asked you?" Jet argued back heading off to repair Hammerhead.

"Goddamnit Nikolai!"

"Heh! You run pretty fast for a dead man, Spike, though still not fast enough," Nikolai taunted. He was a good distance away from Spike to begin with. He had given Spike the slip when an explosion took his concentration away from his bounty, it took awhile for Spike to notice he was gone. By the time he had noticed, Nikolai had a very big lead , which was getting smaller by the minute. '_Not to worry, we're almost there anyway'_ he thought, bounding around the corner and almost into an overturned trash can. Coming upon the edge of the slums, he burst across inot the better side of town. Though it was past noon, the streets and buildings seemed to shine with brilliance compared to the dingy slums. The buildings captured the suns rays on their windows and illuminated the streets below as Nikolai ran past. _'I could see her living here.'_

Spike was now very pissed off. Either Nikolai knew where he was going, or was leading him on a wild goose chase. Figuring it was the former when Nikolai suddenly bounded around a corner, Spike put all his senses on high alert. _'Yup I could definitely see Katia living here.'_ Nikolai counted off the street numbers as he continued down a row of generously sized apartment complexes. Spike was hot on his heels as Nikolai finally spotted the ground floor studio apartment. The giant front window shattered as he jumped through the glass. Spike was beginning to notice the shadows that crept around on the roofs of the surrounding buildings and they didn't seem too friendly.

"What the hell!?" Katia, who had been in the back studio painting, heard the window shatter and walked into the front room to investigate. As she was grabbed from behind, a gun put to her head fear that she had not known in over 5 years, came rushing back to her like the fury of God. She recognized the calloused hands that bound her and the smell of cheap whiskey on his breath. She knew the man behind he, the man who had nearly destroyed her life, one who was supposed to be in prison. Anyone should be in prison for what he did, but he did it to his own flesh and blood, his daughter.

"Hello, Katia," he whispered in her ear, the hot stink of his breath making her cringe inwardly

"I told you, my name is _Kate!_"she said through gritted teeth. It was all she could manage from totally freaking out. She did not want to go through that nightmare again.

"That's not your Russian name, your _birth_ name. Katia Yvonne Asimov."

_Kate_ tried to squirm out of her father's vice-like grip, but to no avail. Outside the shattered window, Spike slowed to a halt after Nikolai went through. He began counting the shadows on the rooftops and it seemed he was far outnumbered. There were two on the roof, three on the one across the street, and four behind the apartment at least. Yep, it was a set up and he had walked right into it. The shadows began to close in on Spike and he knew he couldn't take them all, so he entered the apartment through the broken window frame, careful not to cut himself on any of the broken glass. Upon entering, Spike saw it had already turned into a hostage situation. The hostage herself looked familiar with her flaming red hair and vivid dark green eyes. Its not often you forget a face like hers. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't ugly, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it was one that just stuck with you. But for the _life_ of him, he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. She seemed to vaguely recognize him as well, but that still didn't bring about any inkling of what her name was. She squinted at him, as if trying remember when her eyes went wide in fear. Spike didn't even have to turn around to know who was there.

"Hello Spike," Vicious oozed as walked in through the door. He had a very smug smirk on his face as he looked over at Kate, whose eyes were now burning with hatred. He stuck his hand in his pocket and Spike was about ready to bolt when he noticed the entourage that had followed Vicious in, and the many more who were outside the window. _'Oh _this_ is just _super!_'_

"_You!_ You broke my father out of prison! You idiot, what the hell were you thinking Vicious?!" Kate snarled at him. Then it hit Spike like a brick wall, she was Kate Asimov, Nikolai's daughter who had been the prosecutions star witness against her father and was really the only thing the ISSP had been able to claim as evidence (since no one could shut her up anyway). If Vicious had broken Nikolai out of jail, there must some very large deal in the works and that did not bode well for the rest of the Mars populace.

Vicious strode over to Kate and wrenched her left arm forward by the wrist. She struggled but he had her in an unshakable grip as he shoved her sleeve up to her elbow joint. He reached back in his pocket and pulled out a small, black, electronic scanner and Kate began to squirm even more as she recognized it. You didn't have a crime boss for a father and not know when you were about to be marked. The scanner was placed to her skin and the smell of burning flesh accompanied her blood curdling screams. When all was said and done, a bar code was burned into her forearm and a tracking chip placed under the skin. As another surprise, Vicious slapped a handcuff onto her right hand and grabbed Spike's left hand and slapped the other cuff on him.

"Let the game's begin."

Spike: You gotta be shittin' me! I get to be handcuffed to a girl I barely know? Is this someone's idea of a sick joke?!?!

::::author is sitting at computer while Vicious whispers his "ideas" in her ear.::::

Spike: I _knew_ it! Only someone as sick and twisted as you could come up with something so...so..._wrong!_

Chaos:::snickers::: well half of it was my idea but if you say so. And yeah I know kinda wrong, but in an entertaining sort of way right? Right? :::looks around and sees empty space::: well if anybody's out there, could you review just to save my sanity? Plz?


	2. snake eyes

Holy crap! I've never wrote so much for one chapter before! Six pages, SIX PAGES! wow and I usually stop after four. Thankies soo much to my ever faithful reviewer and reader Ph34rTheEars,and to my other reviewer Heather and my imoto-chan AngelofLight. Well I hope you all enjoy the love and care I put into my stories.   
Ed: Love and care! Love and care! :::prances around and twirls:::   
me: Hey Ed knock it off will ya? You're gonna knock something :::TV falls onto the floor followed by the bookshelf Ed had been dancing on::: over... oh brother why do i even bother.

Disclaimer: The only things I own in this story is Kate and Nikolai. The evil plot bunnies own the plot. X3   
With that said on with the show!

Back on the Bebop, the growing pile of lock-picking equipment was a testament to just how impossible it was to unlock the handcuffs. Kate's flamboyant read hair was up in a bun with a pencil from her studio and it was frizzed about her head like a halo. Spike's hair was also in a similar state of dishevelment due to his hand running through it almost every 10 seconds. Ed had been working on the lock for the past half an hour and both Jet and Faye had given up after two hours each. Ed was just about to throw another tool in the pile when Spike stood up.

"How 'bout I just shoot the damn lock off!" Spike asked, his desperate tone becoming more noticeable by the second. Spike raised the cuffed hand as he reached for his gun. Kate, fearing for her hand's safety, tried to get it out of range by keeping it behind her back. Spike took this opportunity and grabbed her ass. What happened next was so fast if you blinked you missed it. Kate's hand shot up in surprise, and Spike with his gun in hand, took aim and fired. Faye and Kate screamed as the bullet bounced off the handcuffs and around the ship. Everyone dove for cover and Kate slapped him for being a lecher and an idiot.

"Nice shootin' hot shot! You could've shot my damn arm off!" Spike just glared at Kate in response. She obviously didn't know how good he was with a gun. Be that as it may, not even a bullet could bust the lock open. What the hell were thy supposed to do now? The only person who had the key was Vicious, and getting it from him was a last, if any, resort. They were going to have to head back down to Mars and find a locksmith. Usually the best were in the worst side of town, but having Kate attached would be a major liability. Well so be it.

"C'mon we're going back down to the surface."

"Good because I have to grab a few things at my place."

"Oh no! We are going down there for one thing only, _to find a locksmith!"_

* * *

Spike stood with a scowl in Kate's bedroom, wondering how the hell he got suckered into this. He told her they were going back to look for a locksmith, but there they were, in her bedroom, her rummaging through her dresser, grabbing this and that, and he just standing there, confused as to how she had talked him into this. Women, they were one mystery not even Kudo could solve. While he was contemplating, Kate strapped a gun holster to her left thigh, packing two magazines plus the one already in the gun. Spike looked over after the glint from a knife that Kate had just put in her boots caught his eye. She had been rambling on about her boots, how they were her "ass kicking boots," but Spike had only been half listening then. Now he actually looked at them and wondered how she could even lift her leg, let alone kick someone's ass. The boots were like two big monsters that seemed to gobble her leg up to the knees. They had massive zippers on the outside then buckles that came over the zippers with three very large silver buckles. Her pants being black as well seemed to disappear into the monsters mouth. '_Call me a lecher huh? Guilty as charged_' Spike thought as he gave Kate the once over. The spandex pants she was wearing weren't helping her cause. Kate tightened her ponytail as she stood up, giving the "lecher" a better view.

"How can you handle a gun when your right hand is handcuffed to me?"

"Who ever said I was right handed?"

"You seemed to use your right hand dominantly when we were on the ship. What makes you think you can wield a gun with your left hand?"

"Because I know something you don't know.

"Oh really?"

"I am not right handed."

"Ermm..."

"Geeze, I guess I have to explain _everything_ to you as if you were a baby. I broke my arm when I was seven and I had to retrain myself to do everything. Through that I became ambidextrous; I can do anything with either hand. Though I learned how to shoot a gun with my left."

"So you know how to shoot a gun?"

"Not really, I just go to practice ranges every now and then, you know, to stay sharp."

"Uh-huh, you ready to go?" Kate nodded as they headed toward the glass covered entryway.

"Ohh my landlord is going to kill me."

"Not if Vicious gets you first."

"Not funny," Kate rolled her eyes and playfully slugged him on the shoulder. It was night time on Mars and in the quaint little neighborhood that she lived in was well lit with street lamps. Kate looked at her arm where she had the chip branded under her skin, running her finger over it with her right hand. Spike noticed the slight jerk on his end of the cuffs and caught her glancing at her arm. '_Damnit Vicious! What the hell are you planning now?_' He took her arm in his hands and ran his own fingers over it. The mark was still swollen and had a fresh sheen of burned skin trying to heal. It was still quite warm to the touch, as most burns are. He could feel the chip that was under there, tracking every step she took, every step _he _took. He felt Kate shiver and saw her looking around. They were now in the bad side of town and it reminded Kate of the bad days long since gone. Spike's grip on her wrist tightened all of the sudden as he too began to look around. Someone from beyond the shadows was watching and it made the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end.

'_There are four maybe five at least. If worse comes to worse, its flight not fight. Remember Spike, it's not just your life at risk here,'_ he thought chastising himself for being over eager to fight. They were closing in quick and cutting off options. The men stepped out of the shadows and into the grungy light, casting long shadows across their faces. They all seemed to be grinning with malice, and Spike could see their eyes all point to the same location; Kate. Spike drew his gun, knowing there was no other option but to fight. Kate was right there with him, drawing her gun as well.

"I thought you said you didn't know how to use one of those, little lady," Spike whispered mockingly out of the side of his mouth. She just grinned and pointed her gun at the guys closing in.

"Hehe, your Katia Azimov aren't you? We have a message for you, from Vicious." The man facing the gun in Kate's hand said.

"Yes! Yes! He says you will never get out of those handcuffs unless your heart stops beating." Said another off to the right.

"Or he takes them off himself. Hehehe. But the first scenario is more likely than the second, unless he wants to have a little fun. Hehehehehe." A third man laughed mockingly.

As soon as they appeared, the men sunk back into the shadows, leaving Spike and Kate alone once again. Kate looked around one last time and thought she heard a crow caw, but disregarded it as nervous illusions she put the gun back in the holster.

"Well, we better get going if we're going to find a locksmith that's still open," Spike cheered, feigning optimism. Spike's attention however, was drawn to her forehead, where a bright red dot seemed to be steadying itself. His eyes went wide in realization and he yelled for Kate to duck. They moved not a moment too soon as the spot they had just been in was riddled with gunfire. Both of them got up and started to run back toward the good side of town. They were cut off though, by syndicate members closing in on all sides. Kate shifted over to a defensive position and Spike wondered how this was going to work. They were handcuffed together, which meant that their movement was restrained. Working together as one was their only option, seeing as all their escape routes were cut off. It was then that Vicious came to the front of the crowd, his pet three-eyed crow resting on his shoulder. He took out the device used to implant the tracking chip under Kate's skin and fondled it while he spoke.

"There is no need to find a locksmith, Spike. Those handcuffs were made especially for an event like this. Like they say, the only way for those handcuffs to come off is if her hear stops beating or I take them off myself," he pushed a button on the chip implanter and Spike was nearly pulled to the ground as Kate grabbed her left arm. She stifled back a scream as she squeezed her arm tighter, hoping in vain that it would make the pain stop. But it did not stop; rather it spread up her arm and into her chest. The scream that she had been trying to suppress escaped her lips in a loud, glass shattering wail. She was brought down on her knees in pain as the throbbing pain spread throughout the rest of her body. Spike was forced to his knees as well, where he got a better glimpse of just what was going on with Kate.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU INJECT HER WITH YOU SON OF A BITCH!?!?!" Spike yelled in rage. It was one thing to be handcuffed to someone, it was completely another if that person was screaming her bloody lungs out. But Vicious just smiled.

"Its Diamondback rattlesnake poison. The area of the infection can begin to swell and become painful within a short time. Over the next few hours, she will get a bruise-like discoloration of the skin, and small red spots will appear. She'll suffer from weakness, fainting and nausea, also blurring of her vision and partial paralysis, then eventually death. But that's what you want, isn't Spike? You'll be free from the handcuffs and be able to go on with your life." Spike looked down at Kate, seeing the intense pain written all over her face. Is this what he was playing at? He wanted him to choose between being free of the hand-cuffs or keeping Kate alive? What a bunch of bullshit! What did Vicious think he was going to choose,...?

"I should warn you though, the Diamondback has been extinct on Earth for quite a few years now, so antivenin is hard to find. And if you want to find the antivenin in time, you have approximately 4-5 hours to find and effectively treat the infection. Good luck!" Those last words oozed cynically out of his mouth as Vicious threw a smoke bomb at Spike and Kate and vanished under the veil of smoke. Spike looked down at Kate and wondered how long it would take to find the antivenin, if the snake was extinct, not many hospitals would have it in stock. He'd have to get her back on the Bebop so Ed could search for it while he did the best he could to stop the spread of the venom. He slid his right arm across her back and then passed her legs through the loop of their handcuffed arms as he began to walk back toward the Swordfish.

* * *

Ed had been trying to locate an antivenin for the past hour and Spike was getting anxious. The area where the chip had been implanted had become, as Vicious had said, bruised. It was a nasty one too, all black and purple with yellow thrown in. When he had placed her on the couch, she seemed to be having a very bad dream. She tossed and turned in a fretful sleep. Her eyes shot open as she looked over at Spike, and they came across a pin on his shirt collar. Kate reached out with a trembling hand to touch it, remembering where it came from.

"You still have it?" Kate whispered in a raspy voice.

"Have what?" Spike looked over, a bit confused.

"Your guardian angel pin."

"Huh? Oh yeah, this old thing. I can't remember where I got it. It's been so long"

"Spike? I can't feel my right arm."

'_Oh shit! Vicious said something about partial paralysis. Dammit all, I thought she would have more time than this!'_ "Hey Ed didja find anything yet?!" Spike called over to the little red headed kid at the computer.

"Ed is busy now, leave message after the beep. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

"Goddamnit Ed! What the hell are you busy doing?!" Spike hollered, getting very annoyed.

"Ed is busy now trying to decode one match to Spikey-man's search. Its very encrypted and the only match that came up. It will take Ed...AHA! Ed's found something! Ed's found something! Small medicine man in Ganymede! Ganymede! Ganymede!" Ed finished with a sing-song voice and a twirl. Both Jet and Faye came rushing in to see what all the commotion was about.

"I'll go get it," Jet offered. "It'll be harder if you go because you have to carry her."

"No, no. I can walk." Kate attempted to stand but her legs collapsed under the pressure. Her muscles had weakened due to the venom and she could no longer walk on her own. Being that Spike was "attached" to her, he caught her and set her back on the couch. While he sat on the coffee table, Jet started to walk out to the launch bay when Kate yelled after him.

"Hey! Wait! Wouldn't it be a lot quicker if we went with you? It would save....." Her voice began to trail off as she looked at her hand that was reaching out after Jet. It seemed fuzzy and indistinct. Kate was having trouble distinguishing her hand from the far off figure of Jet. She brought her hand closer to her face, but all she could see was a fuzzy pinkish blob. Waving her hand in front of her face was doing no good so she rubbed her eyes. Maybe there was something in there. But to her surprise, all she could still see were colored, formless blobs. It looked like a Monet painting without glasses on. What the hell was going on?

"Yoo-hoo? What's the matter?" a familiar voice asked to her right. Kate reached out in that direction, coming in contact with Spike's frazzled forest green hair.

"Spike? Why...why can't I see anything clearly. Its all just blurs."

"It's the poison, Kate. The poison blurs your vision, but don't worry, you and I and Jet are going right now to get the antivenin." Spike glared at Jet, daring him to challenge him on that last remark. He dared him to say no, but Jet just shrugged and said, "That's right. Now let's get going, we don't have any time to waste."

* * *

All three of them found the little Apothecary shop in a run down alleyway on Ganymede. Jet was able to salvage a vintage wheelchair for Kate, which he pushed along while Spike walked along side. They strode into the little shop, to find it was a little shop of horrors. There were things in jars that neither Jet nor Spike had ever seen. Insects and spiders and snakes galore decorated the back wall in jars and pinned to cork board. A hooded man walked out from behind a beaded curtain, holding a hypodermic needle filled with something. As he approached the counter he removed his hood. Both Jet and Spike gasped when they saw the Apothecary's face.

"Nikolai!" Spike grunted in anger.

"The very same. I believe this is what you are after," Nikolai said raising the needle for all to see. Kate gripped Spike's hand as recognition set in. She couldn't see him to defend herself, and she had no idea what was going on. All she knew was it was bad. Her mind began to swim with past memories; memories that were used to put her father in jail. '_No! Not again! I will _not_ work for him again! Not like that! Not _EVER!'

"What do you want, father?" Kate said the last word hesitantly, not wanting to call that monster her father. He had given her enough emotional scars as a child; she didn't want to take on any more. However, if she had to in order to stay alive, then consequences be damned.

"It's simple really; I want you to pay for what you did. Betrayal is not a sin easily forgiven, now is it Spike?" Nikolai twisted his scarred face up toward Spike, a warped smile on his lips. He was enjoying this entirely too much and Jet knew they had to get the antivenin or else Kate would die.

"Tic-tock, Tic-tock, Time is coming to a stop. Tock-tic, Tock-tic, are you going to let her live? Better hurry, Spike my boy, or you'll be free of our little ploy." The words that Vicious had said rang through Spike's head as Nikolai chanted the poem over and over again. _She'll suffer from weakness, fainting and nausea, also blurring of her vision and partial paralysis, then eventually death. But that's what you want, isn't Spike? You'll be free from the handcuffs and be able to go on with your life. **You'll be free from the handcuffs and be able to go on with your life. Go on with your life**. _They repeated over and over again, taunting him to choose. Which would he like more, someone else's life for his freedom, or his freedom for someone else's life?

"Give me the Goddamn antivenin Nikolai! _Give it to me!_ NOW!" Spike shouted, thrusting his open palm toward the twisted man.

"Here you go, you party pooper."

A/N): wow thats a load off my shoulders. i see that not many people care about my sanity. :::sniff sniff::: ahh well sanity is overrated anyway. if you are out there, plz review. they are fun to read and bribery usually helps too!


	3. what a tangled web we weave

Gaaaaaaaaaaah! Gomen! Gomen nasai! Soooooo sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Lots of stuff over break and what have you. But I sat my butt down and pounded this out for ya'll. I knew this would be one of the major chances I had to update and i have not failed! Mwhahahaha! ahem. Anyway, enjoy this next installment, because it might be awhile before I update again.

Disclaimer: aww pooh! I don't own anyone in this ficcie except Kate and Nikolai.

Ed: Nikolai, whadda guy! Lost his head, now he's dead.

Chaos: :::grabs Ed and duct tapes her mouth::: how many times do i have to tell you not to read ahead! Ehe. Pay no mind to that man behind the curtain!

now on with the show!

"_Spike! Spike!" You look up towards the second level of an apartment complex to see a tomboyish girl yell after you. She looks about nine or ten with her flaming red pixie cut under a_ _cap, her overalls two sizes too big. She begins to run down the fire escape on the side of the building, the old, steel stairs creaking with every bounding step. You tell your friend to go on ahead while you wait for the girl with the toothless grin. She runs up to you and you look down at her, she barely reaches your waist, but you were always tall for your age. Your hand is on her head and you give a rub before she smiles up at you with her whole face; her eyes squeezed shut, the gap of her two missing front teeth making you smile right back. She hands you a small package, hastily wrapped in brown paper. It fits in the palm of your hand as she gives it to you, watching you open it. The gift is a small card with a pin on it, an angel pin with a poem on the card. It reads, _

For all those times I cannot follow along,  
I send with you a guardian to watch over and protect,  
The ones I care about, the ones that I respect.  
So when you wear this angel pin, remember my little song  
And be reminded that I will be with you no matter what goes on.

_You look down at the little girl and smile, rubbing her head one more time._

"_I don't need this," you say. "My guardian angel is right here in front of me."_

_She smiles that toothless smile once more as she begins to speak, "Oh silly I know that, but the pin is for good luck. I know some times you do dangerous stuff and I just want you to be safe. Will you wear it for me? Please?" She clasps her hands together, her bottom lip quivering mockingly. You roll your eyes and oblige her request, pinning the angel to your shirt collar. She squeals a quick "thank you" and hugs you around the neck. It starts to rain as you watch her walk back into her abode. The rain makes your hair stick to your forehead as the picture fades to black._

Spike sat up soaked in sweat from a fitful nights sleep. He looked down at his collar to see the same angel pin still pinned to his shirt collar. He looked over at the still sleeping form of Kate. '_My guardian angel, huh?'_ He fingered the pin and decided to let her stay sleeping for awhile. The past five days had been brutal for her; she had endured intense physical therapy which had been designed to have a minimal recovery period with optimal results. This meant intense conditioning for extended periods of time with little rest in between, withthe exception being the recommended eight hours of sleep every night. Spike had pushed Kate hard a lot of times, and he was quite surprised at her inner strength. He thought she would have broken down crying after what he threw at her. But low and behold the things he did to push her buttons like calling her a baby and a chicken, too weak to finish the program, it had only made her stronger, more determined to prove him wrong. That was ultimately the reaction he was hoping for, and that's ultimately what he got. She deserved to sleep in today for all the hard work she's done, but what was he going to do until then?

"Hey Spike? You awake?" Jet bellowed from the hallway. Spike waved his arm overzealously, urging Jet to be quiet. He pointed toward a sleeping Kate and Jet nodded in acknowledgment. Spike then motioned for Jet to move closer, he had an idea of what to do while Kate slept. Jet came bounding over and Spike whispered his plan.

"I want to check up in the bounty for Nikolai, see if it's gone up over the past few days."

"What? Oh I forgot to tell you, the ISSP yanked the bounty. They said-"

"They WHAT?!??!" Spike and Jet both froze in place, afraid the disturbance had awoken a sleeping dragon. Spike eyed her wearily as she rolled onto her side to face them. When she did not awaken, Spike sighed and repeated his question in a low, angry whisper.

"They what?!"

"They yanked the bounty on the grounds that it was all a hoax. Nikolai Azimov died a few months ago in prison. I even checked up on it and its true, he died of heart failure."

Spike slumped back against the wall, dumbfounded. Nikolai was dead? And that whole chase after him to Kate's house, that was a setup? No. Spike needed to see the files. All the files. He asked Jet to get him a laptop. He had a lot of research to do, maybe even a little hacking to get what he wanted. Answers.

"Ahh here it is. Nikolai Stanislas Azimov. Heh, isn't that suiting, his name is Slavic victorious military glory. And if I remember correctly, its Katia Yvonne, which after three hours of research, I believe is pure archer? Eh doesn't have the same ring but oh well."

Spike stretched, to the best of his ability, the kinks out of his back. He went back to the file Ling-Ling prison had kept of Nikolai. True to form, Nikolai had died a few months prior to their attempted break out. He dug a little deeper and found the old trial records; Kate's sworn statement, the incriminating documents she had turned in about the premeditated murders, the paper trail he left when he embezzled money from various corporate companies, the photographs of the underage prostitutes catering to high up officials who were also brought down in the scandal. Spike began to skim over what Kate had testified to put her father in jail, and a certain paragraph caught his eye. He looked at it more closely to find it was a personal account. '_Ahh! So Kate was also under her fathers' iron fist?_' He read on about how he had forced her to service his wealthiest clientele along with her sister, Kasmira. Kasmira had been found beaten to death in a back alley dumpster by Kate after one long evening of conducting business. It had been then that she went to the police, giving a sworn statement and signing it as her own spoken word. She also brought tapes that she had stolen from her "clientele" for evidence. They liked to watch later on, to remember the "special night" but Kate had never given them the chance. Those tapes too were on file and Spike, letting curiosity get the better of him, clicked on it. He wasn't two minutes in when he shut it off in disgust. What was going on in those videos went far beyond your average prostitute. That was rape, and not just statutory rape either, it was hold them down and do what you will kind of rape. How could Nikolai ask his daughters to do that? What kind of inhumane thing was he? Kate again stirred besides him but did not wake. Her furrowed brow and pursed lips caught his attention as she squirmed again. Lashing about slightly, she seemed to be snared in a very bad dream as she began to murmur. Spike shut down the computer and placed it on the floor. He then crawled over to her side to gently shake her awake. He seemed to get a little too close when her left hook came flying straight at his face accompanied by her shouting, "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Spike nearly fell of the bed from the force of the blow. Kate looked around a bit confused before she realized what had happened.

"Oh my God I'm sooo sorry Spike! I was having- having a bad dream and I...and I...oh my God I'm soo sorry." Kate repeated over and over, trying her best not to laugh at the situation.

"Somebody should've warned me about your left hook," Spike replied massaging his jaw. "Jeeze you really pack a punch."

In her best impression, Kate put up her fists and said, "I coulda been a contenda!" Both looked over at the outburst of laughter from the hallway to Faye doubled over, laughing at the joke. Spike and Jet however just exchanged confused glances as to what was so funny. Kate and Faye just looked at the two boys then at each other before bursting with renewed laughter. At that moment Faye felt a certain connection with Kate, like she knew about things from Faye's childhood. This was going to be an entertaining day indeed.

"What are you guys laughing about? I don't see what's so funny."

"That's because you have no taste," Kate giggled, still recovering from the laughter. She glanced over at Faye and they both started laughing again.

"Would somebody _please_ fill me in?" Kate and Faye laughed even harder. It would be fun talking to Faye, she seemed to like the same things. But for now leaving Spike and Jet in the dark about their little joke was just as fun. Jason would be rolling right about now too. '_Oh shit! Jason!_' "He must be having kittens by now!" Everyone looked quizzically at Kate as she tried to run around frantically. If she hadn't been attached to Spike she probably would have been running in circles.

"Hold it. Who's probably having kittens by now?" Spike halted her crazed rampaging by yanking his end of the handcuffs. He looked at her stoically while she looked like she thought he was a moron. How could he not know who Jason was?! The raging dragon within her settled down as she realized that there was no possible way anyone on the Bebop could know who Jason was.

"Jason, my boy friend. He's probably mad with worry. Oh God I hope he hasn't done anything too crazy!" Jet and Spike cast side long glances at each other, wondering if Kate had truly lost it. No doubt this meant another trip to the surface of Mars.

Sure enough, Spike was back on Mars, waiting in front of Kate's house, for her boyfriend, Jason. A car rolled up and barely slowed down before it was shut off, letting it roll a little before it finally came to a halt in front of them. A rather tall, well built man ran out of the car toward Spike and Kate, and Spike felt himself being dragged along to meet this newcomer half way. He kind of reminded him of a younger looking Jet, with hair and no beard; same general stockiness without the artificial limbs. Something else was familiar about Kate's boyfriend as well, Spike knew he had seen him somewhere, he just couldn't remember where.

"Oh my God Kate where have you been?" Jason's voiced shook with relief. He was a bit too overjoyed at first to notice the "situation" between her and Spike. However when he did acknowledge Spike's presence, he looked back and forth between them both before coming upon the common link.

"Eh, is there something you, uh, want to tell me sweetie?"

"Ahaha," Kate laughed nervously. "It's his fault." Spike almost began to agree as if it had been a planned explanation then stopped.

"Wait...WHAT?! How the hell is it my fault?! I'm in the exact same situation you are!" Why was she always saying that it was his fault? Again, women were an enigma that will probably never be solved. However, maybe that was a good thing, because of the complex nature of females they were never to be truly understood by their male counterparts for the male's sanity.

"The hell you are! You fell into this trap all by your idiotic self. I was just the bait bucko, you're who they're really after, or did that just not cross your mind?" Kate poked Spike in the chest. She looked up at him with a glare that was just intense as the glower he looked with down at her. You could almost see the electricity dance around them as their auras clashed.

"Well excuuuuse me! I'm not the one with a tracking device in her arm and a mark on her head!" Jason jumped in as best he could to be a referee, trying to make sure the odd couple didn't kill each other. This was going to be a very long day.

After Kate and Spike stopped bickering, the trio made their way to a small café on the north side of town, where they could talk without being overheard. Spike did his best to explain the situation, with Kate adding her two cents in every now and then. However when he reached the part about his discovery of Nikolai's death, Kate was outraged.

"What the hell!? When did you find this out? Why didn't you tell me damnit!?" Kate's voice rose a decibel with each word. Jason reached across the table and gently shoved her back down into her seat. Kate knew that this proved her theory, that Spike was the ultimate target, but the only problem was how come she was involved? If her father was dead, there was no other reason for Vicious to hunt her other than pure entertainment. Then again, that's just the kind of thing Vicious would do. When Spike finished telling she and Jason about the report he read, Kate's left eye was twitching fiercely. He had read the report, which _included _her statement. Why the did the ISSP not have better protection against hackers, was beyond her. Those were supposed to be sealed court documents, meaning that they were not to be opened again.

Jason knew there was a reason he didn't like Spike on sight; he was a bounty hunter. And Jason was a big bounty head. It was hard to trust everything that he said, but Spike truly did not seem to know there was a bounty out for Jason, for now anyway. Jason just wanted to hear more about that chip in his girlfriends arm.

"Soo, do you know how this tracking chip works exactly? I've heard of similar technology, but never heard of it used in the real world." Jason leaned forward, intrigued as to what Spike would reveal.

"Well, basically it's connected to the UPS systems,"

"Right, the Universal Positioning Satellites," Jason interjected.

"Soo with a link to the satellites," Spike continued. "Vicious can track her, her vital signs and so forth, and with a push of a button, seemingly inject more rattlesnake poison. In theory anyway." Jason sat back to absorb all that he had just learned. If the hand cuffs only came off when Kate's heart stopped beating, the chip must relay a signal to the cuffs to deactivate them. IF there was some way they could....It just might work.

"How big is this chip anyway?"

The Subway. The Goddamn subway. When Spike woke up this morning, he never would have guessed he would be on a subway train to the other side of the planet to Jason's workstation. He didn't even know these things still existed for chrissake! He had walked everywhere he needed to go on Mars. Well that or fly. But his Swordfish had mysteriously broken down, '_More like sabotage_.'and Jason's car had blown a head gasket. This had conspiracy written all over it. Not many people took the subway anymore so they had limited the number of subway cars to one per unit, which held five or six stations within their vicinity. Spike stood next to the bench where Kate lay asleep in Jason's lap, covered in his jacket. Jason kept looking around the car like he was expecting something to happen. Every one on the train seemed to reach for their cellphones all at once, their faces paled and at the next stop all got off, leaving Spike feeling ever more suspicious of his situation. A large explosion caught his attention and sent the subway car flying, landing on it's side. Kate was awake as ever to find herself hanging in midair by the pole that was just in front of where she had been sitting, the pair of hand cuffs caught on the pole with an unconscious Spike barely able to touch his dangling feet on the window below him. Kate looked up, then down and back up again before she grabbed the pole with both of her hands and was able to hook her feet onto the bottom of the bench. '_This is why I do ab crunches from my pull up bar every night, to save my ass from getting killed._' she reached out with her left hand and grabbed the top of the bench before placing one foot precariously on the pole. Here she had to crouch as she got both feet on the pole and grabbed the pole with her right hand before replacing her feet with her butt and letting go of the bench. One final heave-ho had her feet on the ground, making sure Spike's landing wasn't too hard. She bent down to inspect Spike, making sure he wasn't too badly hurt before looking around for her boyfriend.

"_All you have to do is get them on the subway and send out this automated message to the people left on the subway train. It's that simple." _

"_And then Kate will be safe again?"_

"_And then Kate will be safe again, back with you, Jason, in your very capable hands."_

_Jason hesitantly accepted the device that would call all the phones that people had in the train. He had recorded the message himself. _'The three people in the back corner are dangerous criminals. Do not make any sudden movements, no hints at all that you know what they are. Just get off at the next stop as if nothing is wrong. Police will be waiting for these three at the stop after yours. If you give any indication something is going to happen, you may wind up being in a hostage situation. Just calmly get off at the next stop and everything will be fine.'

"_But how will I get them onto the subway station? You say Spike has a ship and my car is-"_

"_You don't need to worry about the Swordfish, we will take care of that. As for your car, it will have a minor malfunction near the subway station. As a last resort you suggest taking it, seeing as it is a long way to walk to your "workstation" and all. Any other questions, Mr. Morgan?"_

"_No."_

"_Good, then lets get going."_

"-son! Jason! Jason! Wake up!" A shaking hand kept coming in contact with his face, making his eyes dart open and catch the offending hand. He lay in a pile of rubble at the far end of the train. Kate looked down at him with tears in her eyes, before collapsing on top of him with a one armed hug. Spike lay next to Jason, still unconscious and bleeding.

"Gimme some of your shirt." Kate demanded, thrusting her hand in front of Jason's face.

"Eh? What for?"

"Baka! Just give it to me. I need to stop this bleeding. The last thing I need to carry around a dead body that's attached to my by hand cuffs. People might start to talk."

"Good things I hope." A cold voice blew right into Kate's ear. Kate turned her head to look straight into Vicious' frigid eyes. His reflexes were quicker and he grabbed the gun in her holster before she did with his left hand and pointed it at Jason. He grabbed Spike's left arm and inserted a tracking chip, and released his wrist from the cuffs and placing them on his own right hand. This caused Spike to bolt upright in reaction to the pain. He noticed Vicious with a gun in his hand and Kate as his shield. '_So this is the way it's going to go down huh?_'

"I thought we had a deal Vicious!!" Jason sat up in rage. He was supposed to take Spike and Kate would be safe, not the other way around. At his words Vicious smiled while Kate looked at him in betrayal.

"Ah but plans change Jason, and this will make things more interesting. Little Katia here is not without guilt herself." Vicious pointed the gun at Kate tauntingly, daring either man to try and be a hero. He slowly stood up taking Kate with him. He smiled at them from behind his human shield as he backed out the other end of the train, which had been blown apart from the blast. Then they both disappeared into the darkness.

"What the hell were you thinking Jason?! You never make a deal with a snake. Especially one that poisonous!" Spike glared at him, seething in anger at his stupidity. He would chastise him later. Right now, he needed an aspirin and a doctor before he passed out again. This day could not get any worse.

:::ducks various sharp and pointy objects::: don't hate me! please! just review! and that might get my wheels turning for another chapter! eh so i am a review hore, oh well, you know how bribary works people! so show me the money! i-i mean reviews! yeah thats it reviews. i'll be going now.


	4. Cirque de Soleil: Macabre

hides behind kate ehehe, soo sorry for the long wait. i just hope you like the update enought to leave a review.

ed: review! review! or ed will come and find you.

chaos: yeah, what she said. and no i do not own cowboy bebop. damn!

An Eye for an Eye

Chapter Four: Cirque de Soliel: Macabre

Slowly, green eyes fluttered open to a hall of mirrors. A shaky hand felt around a fiery red-haired covered head, finding a rather large bump on the left side. Kate hissed as her fingers grazed the sore spot and quickly withdrew her hand from her head. The lump was still tender and her vision blurred with a wince every time she moved her head too much. She hadn't even _tried_ to get up yet and the memory of the butt of a gun connecting loudly with her skull was still painfully fresh. Lying there, Kate did her best to take in her surroundings. The mirrors seemed to enclose her, cutting off any escape route that flitted through her mind. The blood pumping loudly in her ears was the only sound she could hear until the floor beneath her began to hum with life. The ceiling seemed to rush down at her and she screamed in fear of being crushed. '_I always knew I would die this way. Kasmira had constantly told me that my claustrophobia was stupid. But I knew better. Now I wish I was wrong_' To Kate's surprise however, the ceiling opened and gave way to a giant rotating stage.

Cold, maniacal laughter echoed throughout the auditorium as Vicious came into view. Kate sat up to get a better view of her surroundings, leaning back on her hands to stay up. Vicious looked at Kate with a fierce, cold-blooded glare and nodded his head. Two men came from behind her, grabbing Kate by the arms and dragged her toward her captor. He seized her roughly by the chin as he kneeled down to meet her gaze. Kate struggled to free herself from the henchmen's grips but they held steadfast and kept her on her knees.

"Where are all the files Kate, where is all the money? I know he told you where everything is Kate; everything he stole from us," Vicious' low, gruff voice demanded. His icy calm demeanor only added to his intimidation as he looked her straight in the eyes. Kate just glared back defiantly, daring him to try something. He took the dare, calling her bluff and back handed her across the face.

"Tear it off," he said, looking at the two men who held her immobile. They reacted instantly, one grabbing her shirt collar, the other the back of her head to steady it. Yanking the collar back, the shear force caused Kate to choke as she began to suffocate under the pressure of her windpipe. Finally, the shirt began to rip at the seams as it came off, allowing her to breathe again. Vicious smiled as he lowered his face to hers, barely an inch away. His hand reached for her leg and he began to whisper into her ear. "It would have been healthier for you and your boyfriend if you had cooperated." Vicious shoved his hand into her boot and retrieved the knife, grazing it down the front of her abdomen.

"I asked you a question Kate. I thought you knew better than to stay silent." He threatened to slit her throat now, gliding the sharp blade across her jugular and placing pressure dangerously close to breaking skin.

"Screw you!" was all she could say before he punched her square in the jaw and then reached back and threw another punch at her stomach. The familiar coppery tang of blood flooded into her mouth and she spit it out, all over Vicious' face.

Calmly wiping off the blood, Vicious stood up and addressed his henchmen. "You know what to do, and don't be gentle about it either."

O.oo.O

Spike would never openly admit it, but he kind of missed being handcuffed to Kate. Well, not _literally_ handcuffed, but he missed her company. She always had him on his toes with her quick wit and thought-provoking statements. The friendly banter between them always escalated into an argument and she wasn't the one to back down. Half the time he had provoked her for fun, just to get a rise out of her. She was so cute when she got all fired up and angry. Her face became flushed; her eyes held a passionate spark and her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. Spike always had to suppress a smile, which became increasingly harder every time they argued. He silently laughed at the memory of the time she had gotten so mad she had tackled him to the floor. She had caught him off guard in a rare moment. The only other person who could ever catch him so off guard was…… '_Whoa whoa whoa. Did I just compare her to……yes. Yes I did. Wait what the hell am I thinking! Where did that come from?_'

"Spike?" He glanced over at the broken man beside him. Jason had his head in his hands and had been silently berating himself the whole time.

"Yeah Jason?"

"Why do you think he kidnapped her?" Spike thought for a moment, remembering his time with Vicious and what they did. Vicious always had a reason for everything he did, but his latest move still had Spike guessing what his motives were. .

"Vicious liked to play mind games with his victims; it's possible that's what he's doing now. Though, he has other means of torturing me from a distance, why he chooses this one is beyond me." Jason stared into the bottom of his glass, now empty after his fifth shot. He felt numb inside and it wasn't the liquor. The betrayed look on Kate's face haunted him, reminding him of what an idiot he was for what he did. '_Spike was supposed to be taken and Kate would be safe with me. What could Vicious possibly want with my precious Katie?_'

"Don't be _too_ hard on yourself; Vicious can be a very persuasive businessman. But don't let that fool you; he's a true snake in the grass, never coming out of hiding until his real goal in sight." Spike looked around Jason's tiny apartment. The small kitchen opened up into what some could call a living room; Spike thought it was a rat hole not fit for human habitation. Then again, the Bebop wasn't exactly what you would call clean either. The living room gave way to a small bed room with looked as cramped as a closet. '_God, Kate's _bedroom_ is bigger than his whole apartment. Wonder why he hasn't moved in already._'

'_Now why did you use her bed room as a reference, eh there Spikey boy?_' a voice questioned teasingly in his head.

"God I don't know!" Spike shouted unknowingly aloud. Jason looked at him like he was nutters before Spike sighed and lay back again on the couch. They were playing the waiting game and waiting was not really one of Spikes fortés. Ed had tracked down the frequency of the UPS tracking device, but all they found was the discarded chip covered in blood and no other leads were coming through. So all they could do was wait. As it turned out, Jason had worked at the company that had developed the UPS chips and knew how they worked.

_ "We just have to make the chip think you're dead. That way it will come out nice and easy." Jason smiled at the simplicity of it all._

_ "And how the hell are 'we' supposed to do that? Not to mention, Vicious will know something's up.' Spike frowned. Jason didn't know what he was dealing with, even if he knew what to do with the chip, Vicious would still come looking for proof. Spike had cheated death before. Vicious hadn't believed it then, and he wouldn't believe it now._

"_What's the matter? Dontcha trust me?" _

_ Spike gave him an incredulous look. "You know what I think about bounty heads. But you're just chump change compared to the bigger fish out there."_

_ Jason's eyes went wide. "You knew? This whole time, you knew?" Spike just shrugged. "Well, it's not like your girlfriend would have let me do anything about it, and no, I didn't know the _whole_ time. I recognized you but I couldn't remember why. Then it hit me. Anyway, what do you have planned for making me 'dead'?"_

Spike looked down at the dressing "Dr." Morgan had done. It was pretty uniform; it looked like the military's handiwork. Judging by Jason's bulky frame, he probably had served, not too long ago.

"What's that noise?" Jason asked dejectedly, not bothering to look up from his empty glass once again. Spike looked up after being brought back from his musings and focused his ears. The distinctively familiar sound of a certain Black Dog swearing obscenities left and right fell upon his ears.

"It's Jet. They must have found something." Spike hopped off the couch and opened the door.

O.oo.O

No, they definitely were not being gentle. Kate lay numbly on the floor with a split lip, a gash above her right eye that bled profusely, a few if not broken ribs and welts all along her body. Her thighs hurt the most after being attacked by Vicious' lackeys. It had been awhile since she had felt so disgusted with herself; since she had ever felt so dead, so worthless. Crying didn't even seem an option because by now she had learned not to cry, it only made it hurt worse. The past was making up quickly for lost time.

Vicious silently walked into the dark room seeing the naked form in the middle of the floor. She looked dead, skin paled and bruised, her body showing no signs of life. If he hadn't ventured closer, Vicious really would have thought she was another dead body to get rid of, and his plans didn't call for that. The shallow breathing that raised her chest ever so slightly showed that indeed Kate was still alive. Walking over to her side, he tossed what was left of her clothing at her to get her to move. She lay still as stone, not acknowledging the added presence of the torn pieces of fabric as Vicious loomed over her.

"I know you're alive, Kate, I can see you breathing. Now we had better get you dressed for our special guest." He motioned forward the same two men, and they held her up so that only the tips of her toes could scrape across the floor. Vicious unwound the long spool of blood red crimson fabric and began to tightly wrap it around Kate. He wrapped it twice around her left arm, sliding it over her shoulder and across her right breast before crossing her back and around her thighs. As he reached her toes, he wrapped her body in crimson again, criss-crossing everything to give her the tiniest bit of dignity. He finished her right arm and took a large silver ring from one of the men. Unclasping the large ring, he slid it through a grommet hole in the fabric before tying the ring to a rope.

"Bring her, we will loop the rope around the scaffolding above the stage before tying it off." The men nodded, dragging Kate toward a small servicing elevator and began to ascend to the maintenance walkways. They dragged her toward the center scaffolding and tossed the rope around the beam at the end of the walkway and looped it around once before clasping the ring in the grommet hole on the left side of the fabric and tying the rope to the ring. The guy smirked at Kate as he picked her up and tossed her off the walkway. A scream escaped her lips as the strain on her shoulders became unbearable. Wishing they would just dislocate already, Kate thankfully slipped into the awaiting arms of unconsciousness.

O.oo.O

"Damnit Spike! Why didn't you turn on your goddamn phone!" Jet yelled from the bottom of the three flights of stairs. Spike couldn't help but laugh at the scene; Jet was sprawled amidst a pile of garbage bags and a banana peel covered his bald spot. It seems that Jet had tripped on the rather large crack in the sidewalk while trying to make his way to the apartment. Jason stuck his head out of the door and had to smile as well. Kate had done that the first time she came over too. He could still remember her yelling at him pretty much the same way Jet was yelling at Spike. But then he frowned, the memory reminding him exactly what he had done.

Finally, after they finished laughing at Jet's predicament and helped him up the stairs, Jet told them why he was there. He took out a piece of paper and unfolded it onto the kitchen counter.

"This," he said pointing the paper that looked mysteriously like a flyer for a circus act. "was faxed to the Bebop 20 minutes ago, along with this picture." The flyer showed an illustration of a performer wrapped up in a streamer and hung like Jesus on a cross. The heading said, "Cirque de Soleil: Macabre." A/N: I do not own Cirque de Soleil or any of its affiliates The picture was of Kate, in the exact same pose as the performer, only the word Macabre seemed more appropriate for her than the poster. Kate looked dead, and Jason looked like he was going to join her, soon.

"What the hell is this! What the hell does Macabre mean! Is this his idea of a sick joke?"

"It's pronounced _Macab_; the -re is silent. And, it's French for dance of death. Other meanings are having death as a subject: comprising or including a personalized representation of death; dwelling on the gruesome; or tending to produce horror in a beholder. So, I would say this is eerily fitting and to answer your last question, I think it's both a sick joke and an invitation to a trap." Spike looked over at Jason who was trying to take it all in. Tearing his gaze away from the shocked man, he looked down at the poster, noticing a date, time and place, all out of date. He knew the place the poster mentioned and it had been abandoned over a decade ago. No doubt the most likely place for Vicious to hide out and keep Kate away from the prying eye of the curious public.

"Let's go. I want my Katie back, away from that creep!" Jason grabbed the poster and headed for the door. A firm hand clamped down on his shoulder, halting his progress.

"You _do_ realize it is most likely a trap right?" Spike inquired, trying to see just how far Jason was willing to go for Kate, and making sure he didn't go in there blind.

"Of _course_ I do! Do you think I care! He's after you, not me! I just want my Katie back safe and sound! Now let me go. It seems I'm the only one who gives a DAMN about her!" with that he slammed the door and left both Jet and Spike a bit bewildered.

"Come on, we better go save his sorry ass before he gets himself killed." Jet motioned to Spike who was still staring at the door. The bad news was, in Jason's little temper tantrum, he had disabled the Hammer head which left Spike and Jet stranded once again.

"That little _bastard!_ Just wait till I get my hands on him, he will regret ever being born!"

Spike whistled to Jet to get his attention, it seems Jason was into fixing motorcycles and Spike had procured one that seemed in working condition and was slowly riding his way over to Jet.

"Like you said, come on, let's go."

O.oo.O

Vicious turned to the small army amassed before him and smirked. "Get ready, our guest of honor will be here shortly."

A/N:> dun-dun-dun:::fades to black: oohohhoo i have a great chappie planned for the next update, however, my time has seemingly become a very valuable commodity and i haven't been as avalible to write as i would like. but as soon as summer comes (and i graduate w00t w00t) i will have oodles of time, minus the time a job will take away. at least that means when i get home, im free, NO HOMEWORK. :gets the lighter prepared for the annualbook burning: ehehe this year is going to be the best! please remember to review. now i must go, i need a shower and have been sporting a headache for about an hour now. ta-ta!


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